Silent Moon
by rainieblack
Summary: Mitsuki doesn't play basketball. She doesn't enjoy watching it, and neither does she care particularly much for it, so how on earth was she surrounded by people who thought only of that? Her cousin, her cousin was the answer. OR: Of how one girl gets caught in a bunch of guys obsessed with basketball and is thoroughly exasperated by it all. Rated T for language.


**Title** : Silent Moon

 **Summary** : Mitsuki doesn't play basketball. She doesn't enjoy watching it, and neither does she care particular much for it, so how on earth was she surround by people who thought only of that? Her cousin, her cousin was the answer. OR: Of how one girl gets caught in a bunch of hot guys all obsessed with basketball and is exasperated by it all.

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" _Italics for English_."

"Normal speech."

' _Thoughts_ '

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" _Hey, wake up, we're landing, yea_?" Kagami Taiga rasped out lowly, tapping her cheek gently with his free hand. The brunette scrunched up her nose, nuzzling further into his broad shoulder with a discontented grumble. Her lips were pulled down into a small frown, and dark brows pulled into a slight furrow as she began to stir. Dark lashes fluttered as the girl opened her eyes, revealing bleary turquoise irises. She pinned a blank stare into space, proceeding to rapidly blink once or twice to clear her blurry vision. "Taiga, hey," The girl mumbled, sluggishly pulling away from his side to rub at her eyes, managing to coordinate her lips to form something that resembled a polite greeting before snagging her glasses, black-rimmed and classy, from slope of her plaid button up.

" _What time is it_?" The brunette groaned as she pushed the glasses onto her nose, heaving a relieved sigh when her blurry vison slid back into focus. " _It's about two-thirty in the morning if we're goin by California's time, but it's around six in the evening if we're talkin bout Japan_." The red-haired male answered lazily after checking his iPhone, huffing out an amused chuckle when the girl grumbled about 'fuckin jetlags' under her breath.

" _Yea, yea, yuck it up, you're just as tired as I am_." The brunette grumbled lowly. She ran her slender fingers through her airy chin-length bangs, grimacing in pain when her fingers caught onto tangled knot. Her loose french braid had been undone sometime during their flight, and some parts spilled over her shoulder in messy waves. " _I'm the older one, you know, Mitsuki_." He deadpanned, leaning down to flick her forehead when she answered with a cheeky, " _So_?"

" _What! You know I'm the mature one most of the time_ ," Mitsuki grumbled huffily in protest, cupping the throbbing spot with one hand and playfully smacking the red-head's shoulder with the other. " _Tch! You brat–_ " Taiga scoffed, knuckling roughly at Mitsuki's head for a brief moment before pulling away when the the intercom crackled to life. The crisp, firm voice of an air stewardess began to announce their arrival in English, her words lightly accented with a touch of Brooklyn accent. The previously dull chatter in the plane built up as the passengers began ready themselves for the impending touchdown.

Mitsuki untied the rubber band from her hair, repeatedly running through the wavy locks until they lay over shoulders in a more civilized manner. Her leather rucksack, colored in a shade of umber brown, was swung over her delicate shoulders as they two stood up, preparing to make their way out the plane.

As they climbed out the plane, Mitsuki took in the breathtaking sunset with appraising eyes, her intrinsically artistic side yearning to capture the colors spilling into the sky in a photo or perhaps even on paper. " _Hey, Tsu, let's go, the cab's waiting_." Taiga called out, already a few meters away from her, bringing Mitsuki away from her thoughts. A backpack was slung over a sweater-clad shoulder, containing more of Mitsuki's things, namely her make-up products and her laptop, than his own.

Mitsuki turned to face him, her hand habitually smoothing down the side of her legs whilst the other held on to the strap of her rucksack. "Coming, Taiga~" She answered in reply, catching up to him in a few strides. As usual, she had to tilt her head up to look him in the eyes, even if she was considered rather tall for a girl her age.

" _What's with the Japanese_?" The vermillion-eyed teen asked, words colored with annoyance as they began to make their way to the customs counter. Mitsuki rolled her eyes at the redundant question, pulling out their official documents from her bag. As she handed Taiga his passport, Mistuki chided him in an impassive, deadpan tone. "Seriously, Taiga, are you really asking me that right now?"

At his questioning gaze, Mitsuki's hand met her forehead. "You're so stupid, Taiga." The brunette mumbled, casting a helpless gaze into the sky, calling out, "Oji-san, your son can be such a moron sometimes."

" _O-oi, Mitsuki, what does that mean_!"

"It means what you think, idiot, we're in Japan, speak like it, you dumbass!"

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It was six in the morning.

Mitsuki twitched.

"What the fuck," she groaned, her hand flopped back onto the cool linen bedding spread over the queen-sized bed after a quick check on her phone for the time. Mitsuki shouldn't even be holding such thoughts so early in morning, at such an ungodly hour, but here she was. The sun had barely begun to rise, given that there was a pathetic amount of light streaming through her window, bare of any curtains or blinds. Mistuki sat up, linen comforter sliding down the length of her torso and pooling around her waist. Her long hair, mussed and disheveled, lay about her shoulders in messy waves, some of the ash brown locks falling into her face.

"Screw you, jetlag," Mitsuki grumbled, glancing around her room with speculative turquoise eyes. It was, at the moment, completely bare, sporting a gleaming marbled ceramic tile flooring, and tan beige walls, as the entire apartment was, but with the professional tile installers coming in at around eight later, the ambience would be transformed with the aspen hardwood flooring she had so carefully picked out. The painters were coming in the next day to color the dull walls, and by the end of the week, the apartment would turn into something that resembled home. Mitsuki winced at the monstrous pile of boxes that needed unpacking, resolving to put away everything into its proper places.

She hoped.

Mitsuki sighed, rubbing at her bleary eyes with a closed fist as she pushed the warm comforter off her lap. She shivered slightly at the chilly air nipping at her exposed skin, slender fingers tugging the collar of her oversized shirt so that it closed over the pale column of her neck. _'Cold_ …' Mitsuki thought to herself as she swung her legs over the edge of her toasty warm bed, miserably trotting over to the door where her rucksack sat, pulling a juniper green woolen jumper from within. She yanked it over her head, halfheartedly shuffling towards the bathroom. The one thing that Mitsuki thanked was that she and Taiga both enjoyed en-suite rooms, or getting ready for anything in general would be…well a disaster in the making.

Mitsuki was notorious for taking forever in the mornings to get away, and Taiga, the lazy bum that he was, was even more notorious for getting up late. Together, well, Mitsuki could see why Oji-san had chosen this apartment in specific. _'Thanks, Oji-san_ ~' The brunette thought gratefully, almost humming, as she twisted the door knob.

The bathroom was, like the entire apartment, spacious, furnished elegantly to its bare minimum, with a slate grey stone flooring and warm oak wood paneling the walls. A large, rectangular mirror greeted her, and beside it, on the built-in wall shelves, a vast array of makeup products was organized neatly into distinct categories. For a half-asleep person, much less Mitsuki in such a daze, to be able to do that, she considered it a job well done.

Beneath the mirror was a round ceramic sink on a vanity unit, which housed the rest of her grooming appliances, including her hairdryer, a straightening iron, a curling wand, and a sock…? Mitsuki frowned at the woolen glove confusedly as she straightened from her crouched position from examining the cupboard, ruffling her bangs as she rummaged through her memories, searching for an instance where she placed a glove, of all things in the cupboard. 'Meh, whatever,' the brunette dismissed, tossing the sock into the laundry basket without another thought.

She peered into the mirror, sharp turquoise irises analyzing her appearance. Slight bags lurked underneath her wide, almond eyes, but other than that, there were no other signs that she had just moved an entire continent over. Mistuki heaved a deep, weary sigh before running slender fingers through her bangs to pull up the chin-length strands from her face, clipping it securely with a hairpin so that it didn't get in the way when she was washing her face.

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"Woah," Mitsuki breathed under her breath as she strolled sedately down the street, her ash brown hair, left loose to spill down her back, swirled around her shoulders as she looked around the bustling streets. What captured her attention was not the extravagant cosplayers milling about, but rather, the flowering sakura trees that lined the streets.

Her attention was turned back to the vermillion-eyed teen beside her when he held onto her elbow firmly, preventing her from straying too far away from him. Knowing Mitsuki's terrible luck, she would probably end up lost. That, combined with her disastrous sense of direction, was simply a recipe for trouble, hence the reason why Taiga made sure to keep the brunette as close to him as possible at all times. _'If something happens to that brat_ ,' the crimson-haired male repressed a deep shudder, 'the old man will kill me.'

"Taiga? What is it?" Mitsuki asked deviously, a mischievous smirk playing on her lips. Somehow, by the tone of her voice, Kagami was struck with the thought that Mitsuki was well aware of what would happen to him if something happened to her. By the widening smirk on her face, she appeared to be utterly unconcerned by the fact as well. _'S-spawn of the devil_...' the teen thought wildly, his mind flashing to the serene visage of his ever-smiling mother. The same mother who had cooed eagerly whilst taking photos of him dressed in frilly dresses. ' _Gah_! She's been spending too much time with that witch!'

"Tch!" The vermillion-eyed teen scoffed, forcefully repressing the thoughts of his sadistic mother away from his head, pressing a tamagoyaki and ham onigiri into Mitsuki's hand. In his other hand, she spotted a plastic bag full of different ready-made onigiris, all purchased from a Japanese fast food place.

Mistuki smiled to herself, resisting the urge to reach up and ruffle Taiga's spiky, two-toned hair, treating him to one of her joyful smiles instead. Instantly, a slight blush colored his cheeks, and the vermillion-eyed teen scoffed gruffly, slinging an arm around her shoulders even as he looked away embarrassedly. Then, out of the corner of her ear, Mitsuki caught a few giggled whispers.

"Wahh~ Look at that couple." Someone whispered, their tone dreamy and longing.

"I know, right, they're so photogenic! The girl's super pretty, and the guy's super tall—" Another person, their voice in a slightly higher pitch answered.

"You mean he's super built!" A third person interjected, a breathless laugh answering her bold words.

"They're the perfect couple, look! He's so protective of her!" The first person cooed.

Taiga, with his hearing on a better scale than hers, had heard the comments, that much was obvious since his blush had spread across his cheeks, staining his neck and ears a bright, scarlet red.

"W-WE'RE COUSINS, DAMN IT!" He blurted out loudly, a fist raised in the air.

At the side, whilst Taiga began a long spiel about why he wouldn't date her, ever, stood an amused Mitsuki, with her head cocked to the side while she continued to chew on the onigiri. After many, many misunderstandings about the cousins' relationship back in California, some being that the two were doing it despite being cousins, Mitsuki had quickly began largely apathetic to other people's misconceptions, sometimes even egging them on by laying the flirting too thick to be considered appropriate to tease Taiga's embarrassment even further.

Mitsuki was an affectionate person to those she was comfortable with by nature, cuddly and a-touch-too attention starved, so it made little sense that people wouldn't assume things when it came to Taiga.

After all, despite what her words said, Mitsuki loved Taiga the most.

'Ew,' the brunette thought to herself, slightly disgusted at her way too sentimental thoughts. 'I'm getting too soft…'

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"..w-woah, hey look, that guy's super tall!"

"Oh my god, he totally is!"

As the two cousins wove through the throngs of people, Mitsuki once again, prayed for any drop of patience. Crowds of loud, sweaty, people were not her cup of tea, and there was nothing quite more she hated than getting pushed around. To add on to that, pamphlets were constantly being pushed into her face, club members eagerly recruiting new students. After glancing at the information board, Mitsuki tapped her cheek idly, debating whether to force the vermillion-eyed teen to follow her whilst she checked out the only dance club in Seirin. It didn't look very promising, since from what she could infer from the club's name, the club appeared to be solely dedicated to traditional Japanese dance. "Hey, Taiga, I'm going to check out the dance club, meet you back at the entrance gate?" Mitsuki said, her decision made when she spotted the small twitch on the teen's face.

'So impatient...' The brunette thought with a small sweat drop, slightly shaking her head with a fond laugh.

He responded to her words with an impatient grunt, already making an approach to a senior who was promoting the basketball club, comically towering over the shivering upperclassmen and snatching the poor guy by the collar and transporting him like an unruly kitten. As the vermillion-eyed teen left her side, Mitsuki silently mourned the loss of warmth that Taiga constantly emitted. 'My personal furnace,' she chuckled slightly at the ridiculous thought, fingers habitually combing through her neatly parted chin-length bangs as she began to weave through the crowd.

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"ALL THE FIRST YEARS ARE HERE!"

Mitsuki flinched at the sudden proclamation that was screeched out, staring at the indoor auditorium that functioned as a gym with an incredulous expression plastered over her face. _'What the fuck_?' she screamed mentally, slender fingers tightening on the velvet strap of her satchel in response to her alarm. "What the fuck?" The words slipped from her mouth, echoing her warily surprised thoughts.

She had intended to take a look at how Taiga was doing at the first day of his club practice, (maybe take a few pictures too, at the behest of Obaa-san) but now, standing a few metres away from the open doors of the gym, Mitsuki was considering to maybe just go home instead. There was only so much weirdness she could handle in a day, and that had already hit the limit.

 _'Bye-bye, Taiga, I hope you don't get brutally murdered_.'

Mitsuki repressed a deep shudder, nearly running as she made her way out of the school. As soon as she was safely away from Seirin High, Mitsuki pulled her phone out from her satchel, shooting a quick text to Obaa-san, informing her on Taiga's predictable choice in joining the basketball club, and to Taiga, telling him that she would be scouting the area for any dance studios and instructors.

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[whr r u?]

Mitsuki typed out impatiently, trying to will her cousin to speed up his reply with the sheer force of her glare alone. She was standing a few steps away from It'S SKIN, a makeup store, waiting for her cousin to show up. On her arm was a large plastic bag containing a few sandwiches purchased from a local convenience store along with three cans of Pocari Sweat, Taiga's favorite sports drink.

She was dressed in a dark burgundy bell-sleeved crop top and a demin skirt, paired with a pair of Adidas shoes, an outfit that had garnered no second looks in California, but was apparently taboo in Japan, considering the amounts of stares she was getting from the bustling crowd. Her back was leaning against the concrete pillar of the establishment, the force of her axe-murderer face enough to create a small bubble of privacy. However, it was starting to get uncomfortable, since some of the shadier looking people appeared to be undeterred by her icy glares.

[i'm coming, chill]

Mitsuki kissed her teeth irritably, fingers flying across the screen to deliver her curt reply.

[hurry the hell up]

"Yo, midget." A heavy arm wound itself around Mitsuki's shoulder, it's sudden, immense weight forcing her knees to involuntarily buckle with the pressure. "Taiga," the brunette grumbled slightly, handing the plastic bag to the aforementioned teen with without any further prompting. His arm lifted from her shoulders, instead, disappearing into the plastic bag to fish out a sandwich. The clear wrapper that the sandwich rested in was torn away briskly with deft hands. Mitsuki twisted her head to the side so as to properly look her cousin, the slight heel on her shoes allowing the brunette to only crane her head up slightly to look at the vermillion-eyed teen in the eye. "That took some time" The slim brunette remarked coolly, knowing the reason why her cousin took so long fully well, but choosing to mention it nonetheless.

The vermillion-eyed teen mumbled incoherently through a mouthful of half-chewed bread and a questionably pink substance of unknown nature, his arm returning its post around her shoulders. Mitsuki kissed her teeth in annoyance at her cousin's eating habits, trying to shrug off the arm around her shoulders without much success. Being in such close proximity to the mush that used to be a sandwich made her stomach protest violently, rolling in disgust at the obscene sounds of squelching and chewing.

There was moment of silence as the cousins made their way down the bustling cobblestone sidewalk, the tapping of their shoes against the stone drowned out by the undecipherable chatter of the crowd. Out of the corner of her eye, Mitsuki caught random people doing double takes, some discreet, others, well, not so much, full out stopping in their tracks to whisper about it to their companions. "Thanks, Tsu." Her cousin muttered, undoubtedly referring to the food, ruffling her bangs with his free hand.

Mitsuki tried valiantly to suppress the smile pulling at her lips, probably failing miserably, at her cousin's words, wrapping her arm around his waist to give it a quick squeeze before dropping it back to her side. Even if Taiga was uncharacteristically thoughtful and perceptive around Mitsuki, it never failed to warm her heart at his uncharacteristic and sudden gestures. After all, everyone loved it when their loved ones showed care for them, and she was no different.

They were in Shinjuku, five stops away from Tokyo, where their apartment was located, and considering that it was about to be eight, Mitsuki reckoned that Taiga was leading her to a fast food chain. He was always too drained after practices to cook, and Mitsuki tended to only make salads, which Taiga disgustedly referred to as 'rabbit food' since the aftermath of cooking was the most dreaded task that Mitsuki unquestionably detested: washing up. She could cook, but it would take too time and effort, and she was feeling lazy. Besides, Mitsuki was a strictly if-you-don't-have-to-then-don't kind of girl, and even at the behest of her cousin, she was hard-pressed to comply. Taiga didn't bother to ask her to cook for him anyways.

Mitsuki twitched, running her slender fingers through her chin-length bangs with a huff. _'Why does it sound like I'm justifying myself? Tch…_ '

There were a multitude of basketball courts in Shinjuku, and Taiga, often frequenting them, made him much more familiar with the area than Mitsuki was, therefore, she handed the reigns over to him, trusting the vermillion-eyed teen to lead the way, losing herself in her sardonic thoughts.

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"Taiga," The brunette deadpanned, absently rolling the cream candy in her mouth with her tongue. "Seriously." Mistuki said, her words said in a tone much rather befitting of a statement than a question.

They were in a basketball court, damn it to hell.

Exactly why had she presumed to think differently? Her hot-headed cousin was as much of a basketball freak as anyone could get.

Mitsuki smacked her forehead with her hand, pivoting on her heels to turn away from her cousin, wide strides bringing the brunette away from the vermillion-eyed teen. She was stopped in her tracks when Taiga called out, his deep baritone accompanied by the smacks of a basketball against the court floor, "Hey, where are you going?"

Mistuki whipped her head back sharply, responding with a "to get you and I dinner, idiot!", her infuriation building with every word that left her lips. The brunette gestured to the empty sandwich wrappers beside the wooden bench where his duffel bag lay, slowly biting out, "You're still hungry, aren't you? I haven't eaten dinner yet, so I'll grab something along the way."

If she was any bit a lesser person, or even someone who barely interacted with Taiga, Mitsuki had no doubts that she would be practically tearing her hair out by the roots from her cousin's sheer stupidness. Had she ever met someone as in love with basketball as Taiga was? Maybe once, but stuck between the two idiots was hell enough as it was, and it would be a day too soon if she met another basketball freak.

Alright, maybe she was didn't approve of basketball all that much, but it was just her jealousy speaking. Just a little bit.

"Don't do anything stupid till I get back." Mitsuki called out, praying to the heavens above that something would actually go according to plan for once.

"How can I? You're taking all the stupid with you." **[1]**

 **[1]** If anyone got this, I automatically love you already. Do leave a comment if you know what I'm talking about.

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"Are you fucking serious." Mitsuki blurted, the plastic bag in her hand swinging wildly as she hastened her steps, svelte legs quickly eating up the concrete path so that she was quickly approaching her cousin in the basketball court.

As expected, nothing in Mitsuki's pathetic life went right, and that included her pleas for Taiga to stay out of trouble. This time, however, it seemed as though he was the one instigating trouble instead of it finding him.

"Taiga!" The brunette chided the vermillion-eyed teen, her words coming sharper than she intended for it to be.

At her no-nonsense-if-you-don't-listen-to-me-I'll-rip-your-head-off tone, the tall teen flinched minutely, his grip on Kuroko's shirt tightening. It had been a while since his cousin used that type of tone with him, but it was too soon, bringing up memories of the Brooklyn Road Trip. A shiver crawled up his spine. The only thought he could muster in this situation was:

Oh shit.

"Kagami Taiga, if you don't let go of that boy right now, you will wish you had any legs to run when I'm done with you." It was a little amazing how Mitsuki managed to instill the venom that rivalled even his mother's into her normally relatively mellow voice, cowing Taiga into immediate submission without even raising the pitch of her voice. It was a honey-sweet sort of venom, the type that caught a person completely off-guard because of the saccharine sweet smile on her face.

Mitsuki strode into the court through the open wire gate, a ticked off, strained smile pulling on her lips. Taiga, frozen and unblinking, stood rooted to the ground, seemingly paralyzed. He saw Kuroko peer at him curiously, but Taiga didn't really want to move. In moments like this, Mitsuki was like a predator, and sudden movements would be the trigger for her to pounce. _'It wasn't fear_.' He protested, the pathetic excuse of an excuse sounding flimsy even to his ears. _'He just really didn't want her to blackmail him to submission_.' There was no one he was kidding, Mitsuki blackmailed him on a daily basis, _'He didn't want her disappointed silence that never failed to make him guilty_.' Yeah, that sounded about right.

Without any further words, Mitsuki reached up, forcing Taiga's head down into a semblance of an apologetic bow. Stiffly, she gritted out, "I apologize for his man-handling." She almost tacked on the words, please don't call the police, but with an iron clad control, managed to refrain them from being spilled out.

A tic mark throbbed angrily on her face when her hot-head of a cousin kept silent, Mitsuki clenched her other fist tightly, putting even more pressure on her cousin's head, slender fingers wounding through the spiky strands warningly. "I apologize." Taiga said stiffly after a moment of silence, looking away from the blue-haired boy.

"It's fine." The petite boy replied, somehow managing to keep his voice so void of any emotion that even the ever-perceptive Mitsuki was hard-pressed to detect any emotion on his blank, emotionless face. Mitsuki untangled her fingers from her cousins hark, nudging her chin towards the bench where his things sat when he turned curious vermillion eyes to her.

Mitsuki smiled tightly back at the boy as Taiga trudged back towards her, his gakuran jacket slung over one shoulder and the strap of his navy-blue duffel bag clutched in his hands. "Once again, I apologize for his rash actions." The slim brunette said, inclining her head politely to the boy. At his repeated assurance that it was fine, Mitsuki finally allowed her tense posture to loosen, giving the slim boy a more genuine smile before promptly turning on her heel to walk out of the court, Taiga following behind her like a strangely quiet kicked puppy.

As soon as the cousins were out of earshot, Mitsuki smacked Taiga's shoulder, an angered snarl on her face. " _What the hell, Taiga, that was not the time to be a literal tiger_." Unwittingly, she had reverted back to their first language, words blurting rapidly out of her mouth. It was an outpouring of words, but what struck Taiga the most was the worried glint in Mitsuki's eyes.

To anybody else, they would have just seen an angered girl, cold and unapproachable in her fury, but Taiga knew Mitsuki best, not necessarily her thoughts like how she knew his, but he could read the language lying in her shoulders that others could not. Right now, Mitsuki was worried beyond belief, and if he didn't do anything about it, all that would happen at the end of it was that his cousin would end up bursting into tears.

If there was one thing in the world that Taiga detested, it was Mitsuki's tears. Female's tears were uncomfortable enough, but his cousin's were on a whole different level. They made him do things he never thought he would ever consider doing. Like the time he dressed up as Hello Kitty and pretended to be the talking cat for Christmas because her parents weren't able to make it home, as usual.

Taiga shivered, a chill crawling up his spine as he recalled the terrifying smile on his mother's face when she took picture after picture.

" _I'm sorry Tsu_." He said quietly, gingerly slipping his hand into hers. Her hand tightened around his reflexively, her slender fingers were colder than usual, the air that night was chilly, serving to cause that. " _You could have been arrested if he called the cops, you know_." The brunette mumbled quietly after a beat of tense silence, puffing out a soft sigh into the dark night.

" _I'm sorry_ ," The teen repeated, his tone softening at her confession. His thumb, callous from years of basketball, rubbed back and forth over her knuckles soothingly like how he used to when Mitsuki suffered from anxiety-induced panic attacks, and just like how it functioned as a sedative all those years ago, Mitsuki's tense shoulders loosened completely, all the tension freeing from her slim frame.

" _Yeah_ …"

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A/N: Please do review or PM me and tell me what you think!


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